While I doubt it really cost all 27k of them any emotional distress, it could possibly cause dissidents in other countries some distress. Think activists in China. Although china already has complete control behind the great firewall of china.

Actually, no... I would bet Samsung (by virtue of owning basically everything significant on the peninsula) was easily able to round up and encourage these "plaintiffs" for the lawsuit, as a sort of counter-strike for what Apple is doing in Germany. I would be shocked if they weren't somehow directly involved in this.

Actually, no... I would bet Samsung (by virtue of owning basically everything significant on the peninsula) was easily able to round up and encourage these "plaintiffs" for the lawsuit, as a sort of counter-strike for what Apple is doing in Germany. I would be shocked if they weren't somehow directly involved in this.

Or perhaps Korean's aren't as blinded as other nations by blatant fanboyism and actually expect companies to respect their freedom.

For years Microsoft has been sued over it's anti competitive actions in Korea, I'm willing to bet they aren't the only ones, even Samsung has been indited on collusion charges before.

But hey, it's easier to create a conspiracy then to admit that Apple broke the law and people are justifiably angry over it.

Emotional distress? Give me a break. This is just a bunch of ambulance chasers trying to cash in on what has already been dismissed as a non-issue. Yes, the iPhone tracks the locations and strengths of cellular towers.

Revenge for Apple going after Samsung. Apple is probably not too popular right now with many Koreans, I bet this lawsuit will have legs right now just due to sentiment.

This.

It's not so simple. Sure it's simple "revenge", but it's also cutting off one's nose to spite the face. Don't forget who Samsung's top customer is (Apple). Then realize that of the profits in the mobile sector, Samsung, LG, Nokia, Motorola, ZTE, HTC and everyone else are splitting up the 1/3rd leftover after Apple. It's very possible tha

What it has to do with the issue is that was the nature of the data that iPhones were logging which people said was Apple "tracking" them. That explained why some people's data was so inconsistent seemingly recording all their movements one day and then skipping months. The question is whether you believe them. Apple says the data was never transmitted to Apple and remained on the phone. Your cell carrier definitely tracks by the way.

Emotional distress? Give me a break. This is just a bunch of ambulance chasers trying to cash in on what has already been dismissed as a non-issue. Yes, the iPhone tracks the locations and strengths of cellular towers.

But, but, but if they triangulate my prior positions and then go back in time they may be able to find my exact location. Won't somebody think of the children!

It is pretty impressive how Apple was able to wriggle out of that one. Nope, your phone "isn't tracking you," it's just a cache of cell towers used to speed GPS.

OK, fine. Then why does their privacy policy still allow Apple to collect your location data?

Oh, because that's for sending you local ads if you use an app that uses iAd, and for building Apple's database of Wi-Fi access points and GPS coordinates to allow iDevices without GPS to generate a location. (To provide local ads for apps that use iAd. Also for the user's benefit on occasion.)

But apparently that's OK, because we poor peons no longer have access to the location data Apple's recording, which includes a unique identifier so that they can track iDevices.

Actually, I have no problem with that at all. Why? Because I don't give a flying fuck if Apple is tracking me or not and if I did, I could throw out my iphone (well, recycle it). Don't like some policy of Apple's? Don't use Apple products!!! But quit calling be a peon just because I don't wear a tinfoil hat like you. Some of us have a firm grasp on reality and have realized that with so many millions of iphone users, there simply isn't anyone who cares where you, a lone user out of millions, are at an

I don't care if you don't care about being tracked or not. My comment is simply that people were outraged at being "tracked by Apple" and Apple's solution was literally to hide the tracking data from end users, but continue to track them.

You're still being tracked by Apple. But you can't easily see it any more.

Which apparently was enough for people to stop caring, even though they were completely outraged that Apple might be tracking them just days before.

The outrage appears to be sort of proportional to whether or not a person likes Apple or not. Don't like Apple? "ZOMG, I can be tracked using a smartphone? That's criminal, that's what is wrong with Apple! They're Evil!"

Like Apple? "Meh"

Don't like other people knowing where you are? Don't use a phone of any sort.

Yes, and Apple would never abuse the courts in such a vile way! Give me a break. Also, how the hell is this a non issue? Yes it is just cellular tower locations. Of the cellular towers you were traveling near. This way, it allows anyone to see the route you travelled, timestamped, just by having access to your phone. You do not see any privacy issue with that?

As has been shown repeatedly, you *might* be able to get some idea of the rough area of the country you were in, but someone trying to actively pin down their location over time using this data had a serious problem doing so - it's very erratic and not at all like the "flashing dot on map with traced line" that people are expecting as often seen on CSI.

Also, people cannot access this data if all they have is your phone *unless* you don;t have it pin-locked. You need to access the file

Actually, Apple is using the courts the wrong way. You see, by suing Samsung BEFORE the sale of products, they've lost out on possible damages from patents. After all, by blocking based on that, Samsung just has to make some changes (like dumping TouchWiz - android users everywhere would love that), and boom, no more infringement.

It's far less profitable to sue for an unreleased product than to wait for the product to get successful and wait a fe

Yes, the iPhone tracks the locations and strengths of cellular towers.

...and the date and time the user was near that tower...and stores that data permanently on the phone...in an unencrypted format...and transfers that data to any devices used to sync the phone

I'll agree that these people are simply trying to make a simple buck at Apple's expense. However, Apple needs to learn to be more careful with people's personal data. Most countries have rules that prevent their government from tracking citi

Just to be clear: no matter what phone you have your cell company already knows exactly where you are and where you've been. there was an article a while back about someone filing a FOI request and finding that their cell company had their location for the last 6 months.

when someone goes missing the police often request the data.

After a student went missing from the local uni they contacted his mobile phone company who were able to show the approximate path he took along with the last known location, sadly

well the telcos are legally obliged to do that eactly for the reasons of emergency. They are also obliged to keep the data safe. The actual reason while this privacy breach is an issue is that the data is stored not in telco's network but on the phone and besides possibly being sent into Jobbs' corn/carnalhole is all acceoisble fo anybody having access to the phone.as logs are kept forever. So yes there is a problem. WHether it is worth 1k$ of useless dollars I do not know and I do not care they should ask

I've come to the belated realization that iPhones and (for the most part) Android phones are hardly more than devices for tracking your every move, thought, and desire for the purpose of selling stuff to you.

Ahh eat your own crap apple... You seriously think after suing suing suing no ones going to sue you.... ? Of course its not like you cant afford it... Now all we need is someone to sue you for a large sum of your bank account.

Do google stores the geolocations I visit w/ my laptop in plain text inside the laptop itself, and sync them w/ any other hotspot or device I connect? Please provide source, In my country thats against the law and I'd could use some extra money.

Well it is true that all S Korean fans have a timer on them so that you won't accidently leave it on all night and die.
And it is true that "death by fan suffocation" is a legitimate cause of death for S. Korean death certificates.

That's not the primary reason for the timer, and it doesn't take a lot of thinking to realize the real reason for the timer.

I haven't seen Korean death certificates, but I'm going to assume, first, that the "death by fan suffocation" is going to be read as a final straw contributing factor in an invalid or elderly person. Also, I'm going to guess that "suffocation", when/if that is the actual term used, is going to be intended as a reference to all the ways that fans can aggravate health issues in people wh

By that logic, the United States has no valid opinion on anything because large portions of the population believe in Sky Wizards. Both fan death and "god" are baseless, irrational and superstitious. What makes your world view more valid than theirs?

I live in Japan, which shares a lot of cultural artifacts with Korea. Also shares a similar climate and similar crowding.

There was a similar tradition in Japan about leaving the fan on all night here some thirty years ago, although what I remember had mostly to do with catching a cold from it, if you took the time to really understand what the people were saying.

The timer is there for several reasons, the primary one being that people who do

The sinuses drying can feel suffocating. The motion of the air, also, can interrupt the breathing rhythm. Both of these things can be a contributing factor in death for elderly or invalid people...And the body does partially lose its ability to regulate its temperature during sleep. A constant breeze can screw up temperature regulation as well, and the combination can give a person serious chills on a hot day. (I've felt those chills.) Again, this can combine with other problems and cause death.

Dude. Stop. Just....stop. You are proving his point quite nicely. I can't sleep WITHOUT a fan. Does that make me a vampire or something dead?

But I'm going to assume that the people who really believe the weird theories are among the fringe, which every country has its share of.

Sounds like you are part of that same fringe, based on what I cited above.

We're not trying to threaten your lifestyle by pointing out that some people, at some times in their lives, really don't handle fans well.

Fans can be lifesavers at other times and/or for other people.

And people have been known to choke on spaghetti. We don't stop eating it, but you may need to chop it up into bite-size pieces for elderly folks and for people who for one reason or another don't have full control over the muscles in their throat.

Reading the wikipedia article you actually link will tell you they do not eat THEIR dog, but some dogs that are raised in order to be eaten. That's no different from eating rabbit (that are considered both pets and food in different country and sometimes in the same countries) or horses.

What is the problem of eating animals that are considered pets by others? If I take a cow as my pet, will you stop eating cows ? Obviously not. What animals are considered food or pets depend entirely on culture. Biologicall